Coffee Tips

Buying Tips
When purchasing coffee, always ask when it was roasted. Flavour is at its peak a day or two after roasting, but it lasts for up to ten days if you store your coffee in an airtight container. Old coffee beans may appear oily, have little or no aroma, or even give off an unpleasant aroma.

Grinding Tip
Never grind more coffee than you will use for immediate brewing. Once the beans are ground, the oils are exposed to damaging air. As these oils dissipate, so does the flavour of your coffee.

Different methods of brewing require different grinds. Typically, coffee used for drip brewing should be ground to a consistency similar to granulated sugar. The complete drip cycle of your coffee maker should occur within four to six minutes. If the drip cycle is completed in less than four minutes, grind your coffee finer. If the cycle takes longer than six minutes, grind your coffee coarser.

When using a French press, the coffee will need to be ground coarsely. Espresso requires an extremely fine grind, almost powder-like with a slight grittiness. The key to a proper espresso grind is the extraction time. After the proper dose and tamp, one ounce of espresso should be extracted in approximately 25 to 30 seconds. If the one ounce extraction occurs in less than 25 seconds, grind your coffee finer. If the extraction occurs in longer than 30 seconds, grind your coffee coarser. With our coffee tips, you will never have to settle for mediocre coffee again. Read our tips on how to order, store and prepare your coffee for optimal taste and flavour.

Storage Tip
Never store your coffee in the refrigerator. Coffee will absorb flavours and aromas from other food products. Freezing coffee can also have a damaging effect. We do not recommend this practice unless you will not use up your supply of coffee for a prolonged period of time (one month or more). For maximum flavour, store your coffee in a clean, dry, airtight container and keep it in a cool, dark place.

Dosage Tip
When making brewed coffee, allow 2 to 2 1/2 level tablespoons for each 6 ounces of water (3 tablespoons for 8 ounces). For espresso, allow 7 to 8 grams for a single shot, and 14 to 16 grams for a double shot.

French Press Tip
When you use a French press, you want to grind your coffee to a very coarse consistency. If your grind is too fine, your coffee will be bitter. It will also be difficult or impossible for you to push the plunger down in your pot.

Here is a novel use for your French press. Heat up a cup of milk (non-fat works best) in a saucepan on your stove or in a microwave until it is just too hot to put your finger in it. Don't overheat or you will scald the milk. Next, pour the milk into your clean, empty French press. Insert the plunger, and pump it up and down like a butter churn for several minutes. The milk will expand and increase in volume by three or four times, creating beautiful frothed milk for cappuccinos and lattes.

Moka Pot Tip
It is an old Italian secret to mound the coffee grounds high in the filter basket of the mocha pot before screwing its two pieces together. Do not compact the coffee! To ensure a tight seal, be sure to wipe the rim of the bottom of the pot with your finger to remove any grounds. When the top half of the pot is screwed on, the grounds will be compacted by the filter screen. You should end up with a dry, compacted puck of coffee grounds at the end of brewing.

Filter Drip Tip
Be sure to use a filter which is designed to fit your filter basket. Bleached white paper filters are most common, but unbleached brown filter papers are usually available. Permanent gold-plated wire mesh filters also work well and are environmentally friendly.

Espresso at Home
When selecting an espresso machine for home brewing, look for one that will drive the water through the coffee with the aid of a pump instead of simply settling on a steam-driven machine. A good pump machine will usually cost from $200 to $1,000, but the investment is worth it if you are serious about enjoying tasty espresso. A steam driven machine (the typical $49 model) will not produce a palatable product. We suggest you use a mocha pot if you have a limited budget to invest in equipment. You can create beautiful milk froth for cappuccinos with a plunger pot (see French Press).

Did you Know?
Coffee is the seed of a berry. A common myth reports it was originally discovered by a goat herder named Kaldi. After watching his herd of goats become frisky after eating berries from this unknown bush, he ate them himself, and found they gave him a renewed vigour.